Florida State (4-4, 1-4 in ACC) and Clemson (3-5, 2-4 in ACC) clash on Saturday, Nov. 8, in an ACC regular-season game that has lost its luster this season because of their current win-loss records. In addition, the ACC Network, rather than ESPN, will broadcast the game live, despite the high TV ratings the Seminoles and Tigers had in their earlier games this season.
Let’s find out why this game is not on national television and is available only for regional coverage.
Why is FSU vs. Clemson Not on ESPN?
The FSU-Clemson matchup begins at 7 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. It coincides with the scheduled Wake Forest-Virginia and Cal-Louisville games. ESPN selected the Wake Forest-Virginia matchup, while ESPN2 aired the Cal-Louisville contest. As a result, the Seminoles-Tigers rivalry was assigned to the ACC Network, frustrating both teams’ fans.
Ideal reasoning suggests that No. 12 Virginia and No. 14 Louisville deserve the ESPN time slots, as they remain in contention for the college football playoffs, having been ranked in the AP Top 25 poll. On the other hand, the Seminoles and Tigers are no longer in the conference or the CFP race, which would somehow justify relegating the coverage to ACCN.
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However, college football writer Stewart Mandel hinted at a deeper reason in his post on social media over the weekend. He indicated that the lawsuits filed by Florida State and Clemson against the ACC over broadcast rights and fan viewer compensation could be one of the reasons why the supposed national TV clash was downgraded to the ACC Network.
“After suing the ACC and pushing through a revenue share based on TV ratings, FSU vs. Clemson next week will air on non-Nielsen rated ACC Network,” Mandel wrote.
After suing the ACC and pushing through a revenue share based on TV ratings, FSU vs. Clemson next week will air on non-Nielsen rated ACC Network.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 1, 2025
However, the relegation of the FSU-Clemson game to the ACC Network has nothing to do with ratings because the Tigers have been involved in games that have rated highly this season. Its season-opener against LSU drew a 10.4 rating while the Clemson-Georgia Tech Sept. 13 game on ESPN earned the highest rating for the time slot in nearly a decade. The Clemson-Syracuse matchup also had a strong rating for the noon time slot on Sept. 20.
On the other hand, two of FSU’s games generated at least six million viewers. Those were against Miami (six million) and Alabama (10.7 million). In comparison, Virginia drew between 4.4 million and 6.9 million on ESPN Friday night college football games. The FSU-Pittsburgh game also drew high ratings despite going head-to-head with Alabama-Missouri and Ohio State-Illinois during the noon slot on Oct. 11.
How To Watch FSU vs. Clemson Week 11 Game? Start Time, Schedule, and TV Channel
The Florida State-Clemson encounter will be shown on live television via ACC Network with Wes Durham, Steve Addazio, and Dana Boyle teaming up in the broadcast panel. The game can be streamed on ESPN or the ESPN app.
This will be the 38th meeting between the teams, with the Seminoles holding a 21-16 edge. The Tigers won their last encounter 29-13.